“The 67th IAA Cars showcases the whole range of innovations for mobility, from digitization and electric mobility to new mobility concepts in cities,” according to the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) on the last day of the IAA.

The main themes at this year’s IAA have been digitization and, in particular, electric mobility: “The German manufacturers alone have started an offensive for emissions-free and climate-neutral cars for the coming years, with over 150 electric models,” the VDA underscored.

The IAA has been very well attended by exhibitors, attracting around 1,000 from 39 countries. In all, 41 percent of the exhibitors came from outside Germany (40 percent in 2015). The show offered nearly 200,000 square meters of exhibition space. The IAA hosted 363 innovations, including 228 world premieres – and both figures are new records.

Over 400 exhibitors were supply companies, and they alone presented 166 world premieres. This year many suppliers displayed more of their own innovations emerging not solely from development partnerships with customers. The VDA pointed out that this viability stood for the suppliers’ ability to potentially push up their share in value creation as the industry undergoes structural change.

At the New Mobility World (NMW), the IAA offered an additional format for all new players in the world of mobility. It brought together innovators from all sectors, who develop new solutions, technologies or products for the mobility of tomorrow and beyond. The largest IT and technology firms were present – including Facebook, Google, SAP and Qualcomm. In all 7,000 visitors attended the NMW conferences.

“This IAA was held at a particularly difficult time. For months there has been a public debate –sometimes a very emotional one – about diesels and the possibility of bans, which has spread uncertainty among car drivers and customers. So it is all the more pleasing to note that the IAA remains as attractive as before. In its first week, 320,000 people came to the IAA. The largest numbers of visitors came to the IAA on the last weekend of the exhibition, with more than 100,000 on the Saturday alone. When the IAA closes its doors this evening at 7.00 p.m., around 810,000 visitors will have attended. So the IAA is once more the most frequented trade show in Germany,” the VDA stressed.

There is also great interest in the IAA on the internet. The IAA recorded around 45 million contacts via social media, principally Facebook, while the exhibition was on. This was more than four times the number in 2015 (10 million). If the weeks in the run-up to the trade show are included, the IAA’s total reach comes to over 100 million contacts worldwide.

In the visitor survey conducted by the VDA, half the respondents indicated they were visiting the IAA out of interest in alternative drive trains and digitization. The proportion of trade visitors so far has been close to 35 percent, while around 65 percent are members of the public who love cars. Other reasons for visiting IAA are “seeing cars you don’t see anywhere else,” (30 percent of respondents). Almost as many (29 percent) emphasized the “overview of innovations and new models,” followed closely by those saying “cars are my hobby” (28 percent).

The average age of IAA visitors is 35. The fact that the proportion of female IAA visitors has increased again this year, to 24 percent, is especially welcome. This means that it has nearly doubled since the IAA 2011 (14 percent).

“With its program of activities the IAA is becoming even more of a trade show of experiences,” the VDA said. For example, the number of people taking rides on the off-road circuit was up by 40 percent, and the rides in automated vehicles on the Agora were also very popular.

The exhibitors expressed their great satisfaction with the IAA. They reported that the number and quality of direct customer contacts had increased markedly, and the IAA visitors were better informed when they arrived at the trade fair.

Manufacturers and suppliers alike also used the IAA for recruiting future employees, with various activities at their stands. These measures were supplemented by the VDA’s workING and goING programs. The VDA’s schools’ campaign was again in great demand, attracting over 28,000 participants. Groups of schoolchildren attended from as far afield as Austria, France, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Over 11,400 journalists from 96 countries were accredited for the IAA, 40 percent of them from abroad. First place among the foreign media representatives went to China with more than 400 journalists, followed by France and Italy.

After the IAA comes another IAA! The 68th IAA Cars will take place in Frankfurt am Main from Thursday, September 12 to Sunday, September 22, 2019. It will be preceded by the Press Days on September 10 and 11, 2019.